The 2001 Anthrax Attacks

      Just weeks after America was rocked by 9/11, another scare terrified America. This time, anthrax, a disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. A person can get sick by inhaling anthrax spores or touching a surface with anthrax spores on it. The resulting symptoms vary based on how the disease was contracted. Inhaling anthrax can result in a fever, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, and many more symptoms. Coming into contact with a surface with anthrax on it can lead to blisters, and swelling around a sore that can appear on the face, neck, arms, or hands.

      On October 2nd when Bob Stevens, a British-American photojournalist, went to the hospital, feverish and delirious. While initially nothing too severe was suspected, it quickly became apparent something much worse was occurring. On October 4th, he was diagnosed with anthrax inhalation and he was hospitalized. A day later, he passed away, making it the first anthrax death in America in 25 years.

      After Steven's death anthrax was also found at his workplace and two of his colleagues ended up getting infected. While initially, attempts by state and local governments were to calm the fear of a link to terrorism, it quickly became clear a sinister motive was likely behind the spread of the disease.

      An FBI investigation was launched on October 9th and in the following weeks and up until early November, it had found more anthrax related incidents dealing with letters. One letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Daschle would later have to confront reporters about the incident and confirm the discovery of anthrax in his office. One of the other letters was sent to the New York Post and another was sent to NBC in New York City which would result in an NBC employee testing positive for anthrax. One more case during this time frame also had a letter sent to ABC, this time also in New York, and a 7 month old infant, son of an ABC News freelance producer, tested positive. Beyond these cases, there were also, as the FBI found out from their investigation, many more incidents, the victims including government workers, postal workers, and doctors.

      On some of the letters sent, the words of "Death to America", "Death to Israel", and "Allah is great", were written, alongside the anthrax powder. Regardless of this message, however, the first major person of interest was not a Middle Eastern terrorist. Rather, Dr. Steven Hatfill was a scientist who had previously worked for the U.S. Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). At this location in Fort Detrick, Maryland, were supplies of anthrax. However, Hatfill maintained his innocence and was cleared of all charges. Hatfill would even win a $5.8 million dollar settlement after suing the U.S. Justice Department for defamation.

      After losing their prime suspect, the FBI moved on, this time believing the potential perpetrator to be Dr. Bruce E. Ivins, who also worked at USAMRIID as well as while working there he tried developing a better vaccine for anthrax. Ivins was placed under 24 hour surveillance and eventually he was hospitalized for anxiety and depression. He would later in July of 2008 commit suicide. Two years after his death, the FBI in February of 2010 closed its investigation and concluded that Ivins had carried out the attacks. This conclusion has, however, been slightly questioned. In 2011, a study into the incident determined the evidence points to Ivins being responsible but no evidence guarantees this to be the case. In 2014, another study was done and it casted further questions towards the validity of the conclusion. And still today, there is no definitive answer if the conclusion is correct or not.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/93170200/timeline-how-the-anthrax-terror-unfolded

https://www.history.com/news/anthrax-attacks-terrorism-letters

https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/index.html